TMCnet News
Bush dismisses reports of Iran military strike option+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)WASHINGTON, April 10_(Kyodo) _ U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday dismissed media reports that the United States is planning a military strike against Iran as "wild speculation" and reiterated the U.S. commitment to solving the issue diplomatically. "What you're reading is wild speculation," Bush said, referring to reports in the Washington Post and the New Yorker magazine on Sunday claiming that the administration is studying options for military strikes against Iran to pressure Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear development program. "The doctrine of prevention is to work together to prevent the Iranians from having a nuclear weapon. I know here in Washington prevention means force. It doesn't mean force, necessarily. In this case, it means diplomacy," he said at a forum hosted by the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Bush said the multinational effort to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions is "making pretty good progress." Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are in Iran this week to determine whether Tehran is heeding calls from the U.S. Security Council for a re-suspension of uranium enrichment activities. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is due to report back to the council on Apr. 28. The Washington Post on Sunday quoted current and former U.S. officials as saying Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency planners have been exploring possible strike targets in Iran, including nuclear facilities at Natanz and Isfahan. An article posted on the New Yorker magazine's website, written by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, says that Pentagon planners have called for using bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapons against underground nuclear sites in Iran. The Post said that no attack appears likely in the short term, but aides were quoted as saying that Bush views Iran as a serious menace that must be dealt with before his presidency ends. In his new National Security Strategy report last month, Bush labeled Iran the most serious security challenge to the United States posed by any country. |